SAN ANTONIO--Haitian pastor Gersan Valcin arrived in the United States just as President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted from Port-au-Prince. Valcin, a native of Haiti, worked as a missionary and evangelist and came to San Antonio for training.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that now the pastor is hoping his country can be rebuilt through ministry.

Valcin is pastor of Evangelical Community Church of Haiti in Port-au-Prince. The church has 400 members of all political backgrounds.

He supported the removal of Aristide. "I think it is a good thing since life was polarized by fighting," Valcin said. "Now the effort has to be to help each other."

Valcin is founder and president of the National Center for Evangelism and Christian Leadership in Haiti. While in San Antonio, Valcin is translating into Creole 20 leadership lessons from Sammy Tippit Ministries and preparing to return.

Valcin said the present situation in Haiti offers a unique opportunity to use their ministries in rebuilding the country.

"In my church we bring people together from different levels of society," Valcin said. "We have cast a vision for them to love each other and work together to build a community."

Seventy-five percent of the capital population in Haiti is unemployed and most are young. But Valcin said there are also large, comfortable houses in the city. Haiti's political past is a story of exploitation, Valcin explained.

"What we've come to now is a realization of a need for each other because both [poor and middle class] have been exploited," he said. "This is not the first time it's happened, but whoever comes in power will have to realize that."

Valcin said many Haitians expected to find a sense of community building in Aristide and were disappointed.

Valcin also started Vision for Haiti International, a network of Americans and Haitian churches with the mission of planting Christian churches accessible to all Haitians.

"In the middle of a crisis, the best thing you can do is bring hope and see how that can rebuild lives," Valcin said. "When you come to a church, you have to abide by the discipline. The discipline helps you get back into society and succeed."